US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (November 13th) tapped John Abizaid, a top US general from the Iraq war who has studied the Middle East for years, as ambassador to Saudi Arabia, AFP reported Wednesday.
Abizaid is a fluent Arabic speaker of Lebanese Christian descent who headed US Central Command during the Iraq war from 2003 through 2007.
The 67-year-old wrote his master's thesis at Harvard University about Saudi Arabia, studying how the kingdom makes its decisions on defence spending, in a paper that won acclaim in academic circles.
A California native, Abizaid graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point and later won a scholarship to study in Jordan.
Abizaid requires confirmation from the Senate, which would appear likely as the retired four-star general has long enjoyed respect in Washington.
